


Fountain Diving

by Engineer104



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute, you know that one scene from 101 Dalmatians? yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25756666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: Felix overslept and is running late to work.Annette forgot to take the dog out and is running late to work.Neither of them ever makes it to work.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 14
Kudos: 50





	Fountain Diving

**Author's Note:**

> i have tried my hand at a modern AU. that is all.
> 
> also i cannot vouch for the actual quality of this fic. it's just a silly meet cute, for fun!
> 
> ANYWAY have fun!

Felix Hugo Fraldarius was running very late after forgetting to set his morning alarm after a late night. In retrospect it had been a _terrible_ idea to allow Sylvain to convince him to go out on a Sunday night, but he reasoned to himself - erroneously - that he was adaptable, he could adjust back to his weeknight schedule easily, and he wouldn’t be absolutely wrecked at work the following morning and might even still squeeze in a morning workout first.

He was dead wrong, as evidenced by bolting up an hour after he usually woke and rushing through his morning routine while mentally cursing Sylvain the entire time. He brushed his teeth and showered and fed his cat with on high speed, muttering about the banality of nine-to-five office jobs the entire time and hoping that one day of skipping a decent breakfast in favor of scarfing down a granola bar as he jogged down the stairs and _prayed_ he would make it in time for the bus wouldn’t destroy his stamina.

Naturally he missed the bus, but not because he overslept.

* * *

Annette Fantine Dominic was disastrously late to work, but not because she stayed out on a Sunday night. She didn’t sleep till after midnight, after nearly nodding off on a stack of papers she forgot she’d promised her students she’d return to them on Monday, before giving up for the evening and flopping down on her bed without bothering to change, only to wake up only a half-hour before she needed to be at school thanks to Loog, her friend Ashe’s dog, _breathing_ his gross wet breath on her.

At first she laughed, because it tickled, but when she tried to wave it away and a wet snout met her hand instead, she opened her eyes blinking blearily and saw the time on her retro bedside clock.

She jumped out of bed, wide awake and screeching loud enough she could’ve role played as her own alarm, throwing on the first clothes she found - only later would she realize they were _Friday_ _’s_ clothes, the horror of it! - before sticking a toothbrush in her mouth and combing her hair into something resembling a controlled bird’s nest.

And then, when she emerged from the bathroom with minty fresh breath and after spraying a generous amount of perfume on her wrists, she found Ashe’s damn dog scrabbling at her apartment’s front door and whining.

She was _really_ going to be late to work.

* * *

Felix didn’t know why the nearest bus stop had to be three blocks away from his apartment building anymore than he knew why he bothered with owning a car in a city where traffic was always too terrible to justify it. Still, he preferred the bus to the metro, so the bus he suffered even if it required sprinting three blocks in a pair of nice slacks and a blazer in shoes that were definitely not meant for jogging, much less running.

He got a few dirty looks from pedestrians and a few honks from cars when he paid the crosswalk no mind, and his heart raced with every hit of his feet against the pavement. If he wasn’t running late, the sprint could’ve felt exhilarating enough to double as his workout.

The careening of cars and the ringing of bicycle bells followed wherever he went, even when he crossed into the park between his apartment building and the bus stop. Here it was almost pleasant, the morning still cool enough that the trees’ shade kept the sidewalk cool.

He breathed heavily as he approached the square with its burbling fountain, and at last, he caught sight of the bus stop and people waiting to board standing in line as the bus itself pulled over with a squealing of brakes.

A smirk tugged at Felix’s lips; he could make it, and sure, he would arrive at work soaked in sweat and with his hair a mess, but what did it matter when—

* * *

Annette wasn’t sure if she regretted agreeing to dog-sit Ashe’s energetic (and poorly trained, in all honesty) dog, but she would probably decide soon enough. She let Loog lead the way down the stairs from her apartment before they emerged onto the sidewalk. They stopped on the strip of grass just outside, and she tapped her foot impatiently, her stomach turning with anxiety - because she could _not_ be late when it was only her first year! - while she waited for Loog to do his business.

Only he had other plans and seemed more intent on sniffing at the grass than… _watering_ it.

“Seriously?” Annette groused. “I don’t have time for you to be picky about your toilet!”

And because Loog, a giant yellow retriever (and who even knew what Ashe fed him?), was stronger than her, she could barely resist when he tugged her away from her apartment and across the street into the adjacent park.

As if her morning couldn’t get any worse…

He plowed ahead, heedless to cyclists and other pedestrians and even ignoring other dogs that angled their heads towards him or barked at him. His nose trailed along the ground, as if he tracked something, and after failing to wrench him away by the leash she glanced up, half-expecting to find Ashe only to—

* * *

Felix barely registered the sharp bark of a dog before he collided with someone.

The collision knocked the breath out of him, and he felt the person flailing against him with a gasp. On reflex he reached out to grab them - her? - but something _cut_ at his legs and wound around and it took only a spare glance down to find a…dog’s blue leash binding his legs to the woman’s he collided with.

“Oh no!” the woman exclaimed, and her orange hair flew into his face as she flailed her arms against him. “I’m so—”

* * *

Annette’s feet slipping out from under her cut the rest of her apology off. She teetered for a moment, the man that Loog’s leash _somehow_ lashed her to attempting to grab hold of her only for the two of them to topple over.

And fall right into the fountain with a splash.

* * *

Felix was submerged for a good few seconds with water burning up his nose and throat before he finally managed to sit upright, coughing. Cold water soaked his clothes - sweat was the least of his problems now - and dripped from his ponytail and down his face in rivulets, his feet still dangling over the edge of the fountain and a dog’s leash still loosely wrapped around his legs and—

Someone shivered against him before erupting into coughs, and when his gaze flit to the side he found the woman he…literally bumped into with her arms crossed tightly over her chest and her hair plastered to her face. She peeked at him from beneath unevenly cut bangs, a hint of color in her cheeks, and said, “I-I’m s-so sorry, I h-have no idea w-what possessed him t-to just… _run off_ like th-that!”

Felix shrugged before he found the “him” in question - a yellow dog far too big for this petite woman with a pink tongue lolling out - sitting in front of the fountain, staring right at him. His eyes narrowed - did it smell his cat on him or something? - but he started to unwind the leash from around his and the woman’s legs before offering her the end.

“Th-thanks,” she said. She didn’t look at him, but she spared no glare for the self-satisfied dog.

“It’s nothing,” he said, deciding not to mention that he was definitely, extremely late for work now and would definitely be even later because he would have to return to his apartment to change into dry clothes.

Somehow he doubted telling her his lateness was her fault wouldn’t help, not when she looked so miserable soaking wet and angry at her dog.

“He looks a little too big for you,” Felix observed as he climbed out of the fountain.

The woman’s glare flicked to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

“That your dog…is very big,” he said, “and you’re…not.”

“Oh, well, he’s not my dog!” she retorted, rolling her eyes, as if he should’ve known better than to assume the dog she was walking was hers. She made to stand and climb out of the fountain after him only to trip on her way out.

Felix caught her right as she fell against him. His face warmed when the whole length of her body, warm despite her waterlogged clothes, lined up with his, so he was quick to let her go and step away.

“Ugh,” she groaned. She raised her arms and stared down at herself, where her clothes dripped water onto the pavement. “These are my good slacks…I’ll have to get them dry cleaned,” she mumbled.

The dog stood up, wagging its tail as if in affirmation.

“Right, well…” He turned to leave, resigned to his fate of trudging back to his apartment and calling his supervisor to tell her he’d make up his missing hours in the afternoon, but then a small, warm hand closed around his wrist. He turned back to the woman with an eyebrow raised. “What?”

She let go of his wrist and clutched the dog’s leash with both hands. “I’m really sorry, um…?” She looked up at him expectantly, and only after a few heartbeats of confused blinking did he realize she wanted his name.

“Felix,” he told her.

“Annette!” she said almost cheerfully, a bright smile he couldn’t help returning (very slightly) slipping onto her face. She offered him a hand only to lower it before he could accept, then nodded over her shoulder. “M-maybe this is a little, um, forward of me, and for all I kn-know you could be a serial killer or something—”

Felix’s eyebrows drew together; what was this woman on about calling him a _serial killer_?

“—but I live on the other side of this park and the building has a dryer in the basement if you want to…use it? If you want! As an apology for Loog tripping you into a fountain, and I can make you tea to warm up and—”

“Oh, sure,” Felix agreed…and then he realized what, exactly, he just agreed to.

He scrubbed a hand over his damp face and hoped he wasn’t blushing.

Annette grinned a little wider before her face fell and she admitted, “Guess I’ll have to call in for a sub today. And I was all set to have perfect attendance this year…”

The dog barked, as if in agreement.

* * *

Annette led Felix through the park and tried not to feel self-conscious that she was dripping water along behind her, or wondering why the hell she was so stupid to invite a man she just met to her apartment even if it was for the perfectly innocent reason of making it up to him for Ashe’s dog tripping them both into a fountain. She kept glancing over her shoulder at him, half to make sure he hadn’t fallen behind - unlikely as he had…much longer legs than her - and half to make sure she hadn’t imagined the whole thing.

And only when she looked at him - _really_ looked at him, at how his blazer clung to his body and the loose strands of his hair stuck to his face, did she remember that while his clothes tumbled in the dryer he wouldn’t have anything to wear.

Well, Annette thought as she swallowed to dispel the concern that she had a heart murmur despite Mercie once assuring her she did not, she could always loan him her bathrobe or lock him in the bathroom.

Probably.

* * *

In the end, Loog did his business on the strip of grass in front of her building, but Annette couldn’t even be mad about it (much).

**Author's Note:**

> the working title of this fic was "water is wet (and Felix is hot)". Annette may have fallen into a literal fountain but she did not get anything to drink
> 
> Loog is supposed to be whatever the Fodlan equivalent of a yellow lab is, but since "lab" is short for "Labrador", which is a real place as well as a dog breed, i left that part out since Labrador wouldn't exist in Fodlan. the weird things i overthink while writing... ~~Ashe is totally the nerd who names animals after historical and legendary figures and you know it~~


End file.
